


How We Stay Alive

by AudreyV



Category: Another Life (TV 2019)
Genre: Aliens Made Them Do It, Complicated Relationships, Dirty Talk, Dubious Consent, Explicit Sexual Content, F/F, Fingerfucking, Fisting, Fuck Or Die, Guilt, Implied/Referenced Cheating, Lesbian Sex, Light Dom/sub, Mentor/Protégé, Mildly Dubious Consent, Older Woman/Younger Woman, Oral Sex, Pining, Porn with Feelings, Power Dynamics, Power Play, Sexual Fantasy, Smut, Strap-Ons, Vaginal Fingering, Vaginal Fisting, Vaginal Sex, Vulnerability
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-01
Updated: 2020-02-01
Packaged: 2021-02-25 17:29:27
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22499839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AudreyV/pseuds/AudreyV
Summary: “So how do we—“ Niko began, but Cas’s hands on her face stopped that.“You trust me?” Cas asked.“Of course I do.”“Then just... follow my lead.”
Relationships: Niko Breckinridge/Cas Isakovic
Comments: 6
Kudos: 35
Collections: The Annual Femslash Kink Meme 2019, The Annual Femslash Kinkmeme





	How We Stay Alive

**Author's Note:**

> Content warning: An Achaia that has taken the form of Niko's daughter forces Niko and Cas to have sex, but leaves before they start and doesn't participate. 
> 
> ... can't believe AO3 doesn't have an appropriate tag for that one lol.
> 
> Spoilers for season 1, mostly for Cas and Niko's origin story.
> 
> Written as a fill for the Femslash Kinkmeme 2019, except I could have sworn there was a "Niko/Cas, fuck or die" prompt and it looks like there isn't. SO, consider this a roundabout fill for the ["Niko/Cas, strap-on"](https://femslash-kink.dreamwidth.org/27607.html?thread=3727063#cmt3727063) prompt. ;)

“This is how you stay alive.”

Niko blinked down at the manifestation of the Achaia consciousness. She almost wantedto laugh at how inappropriate it was, but she couldn’t because her limbs felt like they were full of lead and she was shaking all over just seeing the image of her daughter standing in front of her.

“This is creepy as fuck,” Cas muttered, her gaze fixed on Not Jana.

“This is how you stay alive,” Not Jana repeated. Niko blinked at the memory.

“Don’t cause problems. The end,” Niko replied.

Not Jana grinned, showing two rows of slightly crooked white teeth.

“Exactly. You do what we want and we’ll send you on your way, with a lollipop if you’re good.” Not Jana giggled. The sound filled Niko’s heart, but quickly sunk cold and empty into her stomach.

“We’ll do whatever you say. We just want to get back to our crew.” Niko stopped, distracted again by an errant brown curl. “Can you look like someone else?”

“Sure,” Not Jana said, and then suddenly she was a woman in a black leather jacket. Fine laugh lines were etched at the corners of her eyes and her long curly hair was streaked with grey.

“No,” Cas said, sharp, one finger stabbing at the air in the woman’s direction, startling Niko with her vehemence. “Not her.”

“Fine,” the woman said and then, before Niko could wonder who that woman was to Cas, her husband Erik was standing in front of them.

“Hi Niko,” he said. His hollow smile made Niko ache. She looked at Cas, who was glaring.

“Go back to Jana,” Niko said with a sigh.A blink and she was there. “Tell us what you want from us.”

A sharp pain lanced through Niko’s skull. A moment later, her brain was deluged in vivid images.

Cas pressing her up against the wall and kissing her. Her hands shoving Cas’s pants down, revealing gorgeous abs, sculpted like marble. Niko’s own face, flushed and contorted with pleasure, the taste of Cas on her lips.

“Absolutely not,” Niko said firmly.

“Please, mommy?” Not Jana entreated. Niko felt a wave a nausea rush through her.

“I said no,” Niko snarled. Not Jana flickered, her face twisting into a glare.

“This is how you stay alive,” the image spat, emphasizing each word sharply.

“Don’t make trouble,” Cas said, turning to Niko.

“In our culture, things like that aren’t practiced between everyone. It’s reserved for certain relationships,” Niko tried to explain.

Not Jana stared coldly at them, but said nothing.Niko stared back until Cas sighed and knelt down in front of Not Jana.

“Okay. But you can’t just stand there the whole time,” Cas said to Not Jana. “This is something private. We’ll do what you say, but you have to leave.”

The little girl crossed her arms over her chest but finally nodded.

“Fine. But I’ll still be able to see you,” she said in a mocking singsong voice, then she vanished.

“‘Okay?!” Niko asked.

“You really think that was a negotiation?” Cas asked in a low voice. “At least now we don’t have to fuck with something that looks like your kid staring at us.”

Niko inclined her head toward Cas, acknowledging her point. She paced the length of the small room. It looked like her quarters on the Salvare. She could see her hairbrush sitting on the shelf, complete with strands of blonde hair. The tiny dish for her wedding ring sat beside it, along with a tube of lip balm.

It all looked completely real, but she had no idea if the Cas beside her was the real Cas or just a Cas projected from her head or (god damn it) one of the Achaia masquerading as her crew mate and friend.

Niko twisted her wedding ring on her finger. She didn’t even know if she was real. Maybe they were trapped in her mind again, or in a dream. Her fingers fumbled and the ring slipped, bouncing on the grey metal floor before coming to a rest at Cas’s feet.

Cas picked up Niko’s ring. She seemed about to hand it back but stopped and placed it on the tiny dish on the shelf instead.

“This is how we stay alive,” Cas said. After a moment of fraught consideration, Niko nodded.

“Okay. Get on the bed. I’ll be gentle,” Niko added but Cas scoffed.

“What makes you think you get to top me?”

“I’m your CO.”

“Have you ever fucked a woman before?”

“I AM a woman. I know how it works.”

“No way. I do you. That’s the only way this goes.” Cas stopped Niko with an outstretched hand. “Let’s be real here. Getting fucked by a woman isn’t that different from getting fucked by a guy, but fucking a woman is really different than fucking a guy, unless there’s something I don’t know about Erik.”

A flash of guilt popped into Niko’s mind at the mention of her husband’s name. She pushed it away, but Cas noticed anyway. (Cas was like that, quietly observing, hearing everything that went unsaid.)

“Hey. I’m sorry. Just... we’re going to do what we need to do and then we don’t ever have to talk about this again, okay?” Cas glanced down at the floor. “He wants you to come home. Whatever it takes.”

Niko nodded.

“So how do we—“ Niko began, but Cas’s hands on her face stopped that.

“You trust me?” Cas asked.

“Of course I do.”

“Then just... follow my lead.” Cas’s warm brown eyes flicked to Niko’s mouth, then back up to her eyes.

Niko’s stomach flipped and fluttered when Cas leaned down to bring their lips together.

It felt dangerous and safe at the same time. Cas’s fingers stroked her cheek. Soft lips brushed hers, barely there like a breeze, then pressed harder, still gentle but full of the promise of something more.

One of Cas’s hands drifted back. Her fingers threaded through Niko’s hair right at the roots, then tightened, giving just the slightest pull, sending an unexpected wave of pleasure through Niko’s body.

Niko’s brain screamed that this intimacy wasn’t what their captors demanded, but her body relaxed into Cas’s embrace. As they kissed, Niko felt herself start to want.

Cas walked Niko backwards until the hard steel of the bunk pressed against her legs. Niko slid her hands down between them to start unfastening hooks and zippers but Cas stopped her.

“Slow down,” Cas said, covering Niko’s hands with hers. “This will go better if I get you wound up first.”

Cas pushed Niko down until she was sitting on the bed with her back against the wall. Cas gestured for her to lean forward, then pulled her tank top off over her head, leaving Niko in a black sports bra.

Cas grinned down at her and Niko’s insides fluttered again.

“What?” Niko asked.

“It’s weird that we’re doing this. But I guess we just roll with that.” Cas shrugged and casually sunk down until she was kneeling on the bed, straddling Niko’s lap.

“It could be worse,” Niko admitted as she lifted the hem of Cas’s shirt. She pulled it off and tossed it toward her desk chair. “I could be in here with Bernie.”

“If the fate of the world depended on Bernie getting it up for you, I’d say it’s a shame but earth had a good run,” Cas quipped and Niko laughed.

“I’m that bad, huh?” Niko asked. Cas’s face grew serious and she brushed a lock of Niko’s hair away.

“Nah, you’re good. It’s just that fear is a boner killer. And Bernie is totally fucking petrified of you.”

“But you’re not?”

Cas shook her head. The smile was back. Niko felt a little bleary, nostalgic, like she was stuck in a memory of a moment that never happened.

“Lucky for earth, I like being a little scared,” Cas whispered. She bent down and took Niko’s mouth again.

The warm press of Cas’s muscular thighs against hers grounded Niko to the bed. Cas felt solid. She weighed more than Niko expected—all that compact muscle. (A long time ago Niko kissed a girl. She was willowy and smelled like flowers. It was just a kiss. Niko couldn’t imagine taking someone to bed if she was afraid they’d break.)

(Nothing about Cas felt breakable to Niko as they kissed, but after knowing Cas for so many years Niko knew that perception was deceiving. Cas had a body like steel and a heart made of glass, or maybe spun sugar— unexpectedly sweet and delicate.)

Cas shifted in her lap. Niko’s hands went to Cas’s hips, settled around them, thumbs stroking themuscle definition that angled downward. She was pleased when Cas moaned.

“Sure you’re not gonna let me do you?” Niko blurted out. Cas pulled away and stared, her brow crinkling as she studied Niko.

“Do you want to?” Cas asked quietly.

Niko didn’t know how to answer that question. A multitude of emotions and fears swirled inside her. Part of her was still drowning in guilt, images of the real Erik and Jana flashing through her mind. Remembering William and the hurt on his face when she rejected him, how it crushed her that he’d felt used. Knowing she couldn’t survive seeing that look on Cas’s face.

Niko reached out and caressed Cas’s cheek. Cas leaned into the touch and let her eyes drift closed.

“I’m worried this isn’t real,” Niko said finally. “And I’m worried that it is.”

Cas pulled Niko’s hand away from her cheek, pressing her lips against Niko’s palm. Then she guided Niko’s hand down to her waist and pressed it there.

“Whether or not this is real...” Cas paused, looking into the distance as she gathered her thoughts. “You can’t control that, Niko. You have no say in whether Erik will be fine because it was necessary or if he’ll be angry. And you can’t predict if I’ll melt down like William afterward. Nothing that comes after we leave this room will be in your control, and I know you fucking hate that, but it’s true.”

“Great pep talk, Cas,” Niko said, shifting, trying to move Cas off her, but Cas leaned forward and pressed Niko’s shoulders back against the wall.

“You’re thinking too much,” Cas said. She kissed Niko again, holding her firmly as she nipped at Niko’s lip.

Cas mouthed a wet trail down Niko’s neck, then blew gently across her damp skin. Niko shivered as she felt goosebumps rising all over her body.

Cas moved her hands from Niko’s shoulders to her chest. The pad of her thumb circled one of Niko’s nipples through the fabric of her bra.

Niko’s anxieties still intruded, but they grew quieter as Cas’s hands explored her upper body. Fingers stroked the tattoo on Niko’s ribs, winding down her side and around to her stomach. Others gently tugged at her nipple, making it harden and ache.

Cas pulled away. She shucked her own bra off over her head, then nodded toward Niko’s.

“Your turn,” she said, and Niko did the same, tossing the garment haphazardly away. When she looked back to Cas, Cas was grinning again, a broad, uninhibited smile that made Niko’s chest feel warm.

“I didn’t expect us to match,” Cas said, reaching out to tug at one of Niko’s piercings. “Seems a little punk for you.”

Niko glanced down, clocking the shiny straight bars in Cas’s nipples.

“I got them because it was supposed to increase sensation. I kept them because I like how they look,” Niko explained. “I like how they look on you too,” she added in a low voice.

“Good,” Cas said, once again leaning close until her mouth was a whisper away from Niko’s. “Then touch them.”

Niko melted into Cas’s kiss. She stroked her hands up Cas’s abdomen to cup her breasts. Gently worrying the peaks drew a low moan from Cas, while a firmer tug was rewarded with a sharp inhalation. When Cas did the same to her, Niko’s clit throbbed and she groaned.

Cas shifted so she was straddling one of Niko’s legs instead of both. She slipped her hand down Niko’s belly and into her pants, deftly navigating past the waistband of her underwear.

Niko held her breath as Cas stroked her outer lips. She expected Cas would delve deeper, but Cas merely toyed with her until Niko was struggling under her, trying to shift her hips for more contact but incapable of moving enough to achieve it while Cas was straddling her leg.

“Do you want something?” Cas asked. “Something I can do for you?”

“Oh fuck you,” Niko grumbled.

“You might get to, if you’re good,” Cas murmured, and suddenly Niko wanted to, so badly she could almost picture it.

Niko pulled Cas back in for a burning kiss. The small noise of surprise Cas made when she did it made it that much better.

“I appreciate that you’re trying to go slow,” Niko said, punctuating the words with kisses. “But I don’t need any more warm up. I’m warm. What I want right now is for you to fuck me.”

“And what does that look like to you?” Cas asked. Her fingers gently stroked Niko’s slit. “My fingers? My mouth? Both?”

“Fuck,” Niko mumbled. “Any of that. All of it.”

Cas moved off Niko’s lap, blowing a kiss at Niko when she started to object. Cas pulled Niko to her feet, then knelt in front of her and slowly pulled down her pants. She helped Niko step out of them, then caught Niko’s eye as she repeated the same slow, deliberate motion with Niko’s underwear.

Niko held her breath as Cas grabbed her hips with both hands, then peppered kisses across her abdomen, over one hip and down her inner thigh.

Niko felt her knees go weak when Cas exhaled, hot air breezing across her throbbing sex. She resisted the urge to take Cas’s head in her hands to maneuver her where she needed her.

When Cas detoured again, kissing down Niko’s other thigh, Niko growled. She took one of Cas’s hands from her hip and guided it to her center, pressing her fingers over Cas’s.

“Fuck, you’re so wet,” Cas murmured.

“That’s what happens when you tease me for an hour,” Niko hissed.

“It’s been like, ten minutes tops,” Cas retorted with a grin. She stroked between Niko’s lips, then slowly pressed one finger inside.

“God, yes, that, but more,” Niko instructed, pleased when Cas complied by adding another finger.

“Even with sex you’re kind of a control freak,” Cas said, but her voice was warm rather than critical.

“Yes, I’m a control freak. In every situation,” Niko admitted. “When I’m fucking you, I’ll let you call the shots, okay?”

Niko felt Cas’s movements slow. She glanced down to see Cas looking up at her with an odd expression.

“I don’t want to be calling the shots when you’re fucking me,” Cas said.

A cascade of images rushed through Niko’s mind, all of them filthy, all of them completely out of line. Her fucking Cas against a wall, Cas clinging to her as her fingers moved inside her. Cas under her on the bed, gasping her name. Her teeth scraping against Cas’s perfect abs, her mouth already having left a trail of marks from Cas’s neck to her breasts.

“Fuck,” Niko breathed. “Get up here.”

“Why?” Cas asked as Niko pulled her to her feet.

“Because I’m realizing how much more fun this will be if we’re both naked,” Niko said as she unbuttoned Cas’s jeans. “I wish that bed was bigger,” she added as she pushed them down past Cas’s hips.

“Holy shit,” Cas muttered. When Niko looked over, the bed and surrounding area had tripled in size.“How did they do that?”

“Maybe it’s holographic, but with force fields to simulate matter?” Niko guessed. *Or none of this is actually real,* whispered a voice in the back of her mind, and she was sadder at that thought than she expected to be. She shook off the idea and helped Cas out of the last of her clothing.

“Now what?” Cas asked, unexpectedly shy with her arms in front of her, partially obscuring her body from Niko’s view.

“Now we get back on track.” Niko stepped into Cas’s personal space, but not so close that their bodies would touch, and kissed her. While they kissed she let her hands roam Cas’s upper body, caressing her waist and tugging at her nipples until Cas relaxed into her embrace.

“You know what I liked?” Niko nipped at Cas’s neck. “Where you were sitting in my lap with your hands down my pants.”

Cas grinned and gently pushed Niko toward the bed. Niko arranged them as they were, with her back against the wall, then tugged Cas on top of her.

This time Cas’s fingers plunged inside her without preamble and Niko pushed back, greedy and turned on. She could feel the heat of Cas’s center against her leg and experimented with thrusting her thigh up slightly, pleased when Cas sighed and pressed down against her.

Cas’s fingers fucked Niko in a steady, slow rhythm as Cas’s other hand held Niko’s shoulder back against the wall. It was probably just a convenient place to brace but Niko liked the feel of Cas’s weight pinning her both to the bed and the wall.

Niko pulled Cas’s face to hers. Her tongue mirrored the movement of Cas’s fingers, pushing inside, claiming Cas’s mouth.

“I want to fuck you,” Niko blurted out when they broke apart. “With my fingers. Can I?”

“Fuck yes,” Cas replied, kissing Niko hard. She shifted in Niko’s lap so there was room for Niko to slip a hand between her thighs. “Just start slow.”

Niko caressed Cas’s bare lips gently, stroking up one side and down the other as Cas had done to her. She explored Cas’s body as Cas’s fingers continued to fuck her, keeping her touch light even as Cas’s movements grew more forceful.

When she tentatively dipped her index finger between Cas’s lips, Niko was shocked to find them slick with arousal.

“You’re wet too,” she murmured, sliding the tip of her finger gently against Cas’s clit.

“Yeah, well, fucking a gorgeous woman usually does that to me,” Cas replied with a broad smile.

“Stop being smug,” Niko growled.

Cas withdrew her fingers and added a third, pressing against Niko’s opening. She caught Niko’s eye. Niko nodded, her whole body alight with anticipation.

As Cas’s fingers pressed into Niko, Niko did the same to Cas. She slipped inside Cas slowly, feeling Cas’s body pulse around her finger.

“You good?” Niko asked gently when Cas stilled.

“Yeah. I just thought about you being inside me and it got weird again.”

“Sorry,” Niko started to pull away but Cas stopped her.

“No, it’s good. I just... never mind.”

“What?”

“Nothing,” Cas said firmly. She resumed her movements and Niko groaned. “I’ll tell you later.”

Niko pressed against Cas’s clit, then entered her again. She alternated between the two types of touches, occasionally curling her finger inside Cas as Cas’s cunt adjusted to accommodate her. When she slid a second finger inside along with the first, Cas cried out her name.

“God, Niko,” Cas gasped. “You’re distracting me.”

“Then up your game, “ Niko teased playfully, kissing the side of Cas’s neck.

The taunt landed and Niko felt Cas’s weight shift. Cas’s fingers pulled away, leaving Niko feeling empty, but before she could complain Cas pushed her flat on her back on the mattress.

Cas’s solid weight pressed down on Niko, pinning her down. Cas’s fingers thrust into her again and it was Niko’s turn to cry out.

Getting fucked by Cas felt so good, so strangely right that Niko couldn’t believe they’d never done this before. (She’d thought about it more than once. She’d thought about it the day they met, hating herself for letting her mind wander to what it might be like if she was the one holding Cas captive, zip-tied to a chair.)

“More,” Niko insisted. Cas seemed hesistant, but when Niko added a sharp “Now, Cas” she complied.

“You better not say “more” again or you’ll end up with my whole hand inside you,” Cas mumbled.

Niko’s clit pulsed and ached at the thought. It wasn’t something she’d considered before but she was turned on and open and ready, and all she wanted was Cas inside her.

“That sounds like a dare,” Niko said. She took the fingers that she’d used to fuck Cas and sucked them into her mouth.

“Fuck,” Cas mumbled. “That’s way hotter than I ever imagined it would be.”

Niko licked the taste of Cas from her fingers. She hadn’t considered that Cas might taste differently than she did. Cas did, in ways she couldn’t pinpoint in the moment. Desire surged through Niko as she imagined Cas begging to come on her lips.

Niko was making soft mewls of pleasure when Cas shifted, leaning down to mouth at the top of Niko’s slit. Niko’s hips bucked up, trying to get Cas’s mouth where she desperately wanted it. Cas chuckled and took pity on her, dipping her tongue inside to lap at Niko’s clit.

“Holy fuck,” Niko gasped. She felt a tingle race through her as she looked down at Cas between her legs, teasing her with soft kisses and tiny flicks of her tongue. She felt wetter than she could ever remember. A tongue parted her folds, then a needy whine escaped her throat. Niko would have been embarrassed if she hadn’t been so far gone, desperate for this. (She would have been embarrassed but it was Cas, and they knew each other too well for that.)

Fingers slid into her as Cas flicked her clit. Niko felt herself stretching, wanting as much of Cas inside her as possible.

“More,” she repeated and Cas looked up at her with a flash of her eyes.

“Okay,” Cas said. She leaned forward and rested her cheek on Niko’s abdomen as she pressed into her again.

Niko felt Cas’s fingers at her entrance again and as they pushed into her she thought it would have hurt if she wasn’t the most turned on she’d ever been.She felt herself dropping down, submerging in the way it felt. She willed herself to relax just a tiny bit more and her body and her heart eased open at the same time.

Cas’s hand slid into her. It was the most bizarrely intimate thing Niko had ever done, with anyone, but it somehow felt right that it was Cas who was seeing her unravel completely.

Niko came almost immediately. Something about the stretch or the pressure or the fullness triggered it out of nowhere. Her release started as a stutter but blossomed into a rush of warmth, like being wrapped in a blanket fresh from the dryer.

Lips teased her. Niko was higher than she'd ever been and more naked than she'd ever been and she knew she should feel guilty about that but she couldn’t bring herself to. Not when waves of pleasure were coursing through her body, making her head float until the ambient sounds of the Salvare faded away, until there was nothing but her and Cas and Cas’s mouth and Cas’s hands, one Niko was holding onto for dear life and the other inside her.

“Wow,” Cas breathed when it was all over. Niko’s eyes drifted open.

“What?”

“I’d never done that before.”

“Ah. So what’s the verdict?”

“Hot as hell,” Cas said immediately.

“Good.” Niko pulled Cas up to her, finding her lips again. “You want me to return the favor?”

“Not my thing.”

“Then what is?”Niko asked. She tried to imagine what Cas’s thing might be (being zip-tied to a chair, she hoped).

“So many things, but right now I wish we had a strap on you could fuck me with,” Cas said.

Niko felt something shift, almost like the feeling of slight turbulence on takeoff. When she glanced down at the bed next to them, a sleek silver phallus had appeared, along with a jumble of leather straps and buckles.

“That’s fucking weird,” Cas mumbled.

“You can be freaked out by it or you can forget about that and let me fuck you,” Niko said. A moment later Cas had tugged her to her feet and was kneeling in front of her, helping her into the apparatus.

This wasn’t totally outside Niko’s experience. She’d had boyfriends who’d asked her to fuck them this way, and she’d liked it well enough, but seeing Cas at her feet and knowing that she’d soon be thrusting inside of her made Niko feel greedy and deeply aroused.

“How does that feel?” Cas asked when the straps were secure. Niko grasped the shaft of the dildo, stroking it, moving her hand up and down as she tested how firmly it was seated.

“Fuck,” Cas whispered. Niko grasped Cas’s chin with her free hand, forcing her gaze up.

“Tell me how you want me to fuck you,” Niko ordered, her eyes locked on Cas’s.

Cas’s teeth pressed into her lower lip as she stared back at Niko.

“Right. You don’t want to be in charge,” Niko said. She waited for a slight nod from Cas. “Say it out loud.”

“I don’t want to be in charge. I want you to fuck me however you want to fuck me.”

“Then get on your hands and knees on the bed,” Niko said firmly. She watched as Cas turned and did as she instructed, giving Niko a spectacular view.

Niko ran her hand over the smooth skin of Cas’s ass. She trailed her hand down Cas’s thigh, then back up again to skim across her center.

Cas’s muffled whine made Niko’s breath catch. She shifted until she was kneeling behind Cas. Niko took the silver phallus in hand and dragged it across Cas’s wetness, gently stroking up and down but not moving to press inside. She watched as the dildo became slick and shiny, and felt her clit begin to throb at the sight.

“You’re killing me here, Niko,” Cas complained. She pushed her ass toward Niko but Niko smacked her, hard.

“You said you didn’t want to be in charge.”

“I also said I wanted you to fuck me,” Cas quipped.

Niko lined up the cock and slid the head inside. Cas groaned.

Niko grasped Cas’s hips, pushing forward until the cock was fully seated inside her, then just as slowly she pulled it out, pleased when Cas clutched at the bedsheets with both hands.

Niko pulled back on Cas’s hips firmly, fucking her onto the cock, then pushing her forward again. When she tired of teasing Cas, Niko pushed forward, pressing her whole body to Cas’s back, stretching so she could mouth a trail of kisses down Cas’s spine.

Niko pushed Cas down until her body was flat on the bed, then settled herself on top of Cas, their hands intertwining as Niko resumed thrusting at a steady, deliberate pace.

“You’ve been wanting this for a long time, haven’t you?” Niko asked, her mouth against Cas’s ear. “Did you ever imagine what that day we met would have been like if you were the one in the zip ties?”

“Did you?” Cas asked, ragged and gasping. Niko chuckled.

“Careful. It’s one thing for a star-struck teenager to fantasize about a famous astronaut. The other way feels a little wrong.”

“As if you don’t like it a little wrong,” Cas retorted. Niko felt a flash of anger go through her but didn’t respond, instead focusing on moving her hips more forcefully.

“Maybe I do,” Niko admitted in a low voice. Cas contorted to look at her for a long moment.

“There were no zip ties in my fantasies,” Cas gasped. “Just you, seeing something you liked in me and saving me from that water city.”

The rawness of Cas’s confession thudded through Niko’s chest. It hollowed out a place deep inside her that had wanted that too, to rescue that brilliant, inquisitive, gorgeous girl— because isn’t that what happened in the end? She’d always felt a powerful pull toward Cas, for reasons blurred and indistinct. Perhaps it made sense that they would eventually end up like this, clinging to each other, covered in sweat and drowning in oxytocin.

And yet. When Cas looked at her, Niko’s heart pounded harder in her chest, and the swell of affection she felt was disarming. Cas had been her pet project, her protégée, her subordinate, but there was something deeper there, maybe all along, like the frantic movements of their bodies was something inevitable, an echo from another life where they were something quite different to each other.

“I’m close,” Cas gasped. Her words made the ache in Niko clit feel sharper. Niko wanted so badly to see Cas come before she did, but suddenly she wasn’t sure she could hold off that long.

“Turn over,” Niko ordered, abruptly pulling away. “I need to see your face while I fuck you.”

Cas complied. When Niko sank back into her, Cas’s limbs wrapped around her. Niko caught her mouth and kissed her, hard.

“God, I wish I could feel you,” Niko murmured.

A flash of light whited out Niko’s vision. For a moment it felt like a hot blade was slicing through her brain. She froze, vaguely aware that Cas was saying something but the words didn’t make any sense.

As quickly as it happened, the sensation passed, replaced by a deluge of pleasure. Niko’s entire body felt set alight, energy coursing through it. She blinked down at Cas who was staring up at her with a look of concern on her face.

“Fuck,” Niko muttered. She shifted as she felt Cas’s body, hot and wet around the cock.

“What happened?” Cas asked.

“Definitely don’t say ‘I wish’ until we get out of this,” Niko muttered. She experimented with a shallow thrust, groaning at the feeling. “Because I can definitely feel you now.”

Cas looked confused. Niko felt Cas’s muscles clench around her and groaned again.

“That’s fucking cool,” Cas said. “I have so many questions.”

“Later,” Niko growled. She rolled her hips, finding her rhythm. “Right now I want to see what it feels like when you come.”

“Then make me,” Cas retorted.

Niko crashed their mouths together. She shifted her weight to one hand, planted next to Cas’s head, then snaked the other in between their bodies.

“Fuck yes,” Cas whispered as Niko’s fingers found their mark. Her eyes drifted closed.

Niko focused on Cas. In the low light of this version of Niko’s quarters, Cas’s lips took on a dark rose hue. Her white teeth pressed into her lower lip as she neared her release and her golden brown skin was slick and shiny with sweat. Niko imagined her own pale, work-worn hands against the gorgeous definition of Cas’s abs and knew she didn’t want this to end. She wanted Cas alone in her real quarters, wanted to fuck her without the watchful invisible presence of the Achaia.

And that? That was a problem on so many levels, but it was a problem for Future Niko, so present Niko put it out of her mind and leaned close, nuzzling Cas’s neck.

“You gonna come for me, sweetheart?” Niko murmured. “There, that’s it,” she added as she felt Cas’s body starting to flutter around her.

Niko kept up the steady motion of her hand as Cas’s breathing turned ragged. Low whimpers and hums came out of Cas’s mouth as she approached her peak. They transformed into throaty moans, then Cas yanked Niko’s face down and kissed her, hard.

Niko felt Cas clenching around the cock as she came. It was like nothing she’d ever experienced. It was new and bright and fucking delicious and Niko wished she could bottle the feeling so she could experience it over and over again.

Cas broke the kiss even as she clung to Niko. She tucked her face into the crook of Niko’s neck, then brought her lips to Niko’s ear.

“Come inside me,” Cas whispered.

Niko felt everything start to spin out. She unraveled, continuing to thrust but knowing her movements were erratic. Her own pulse pounded in her head and she felt a rush go through her whole body.

Cas’s breath was hot on her ear, but she couldn’t quite understand what Cas was saying. It didn’t matter, the tone and tempo was reassuring, warm, and Niko sank into it like a warm bath or a zero g float.

Niko’s orgasm went on and on. She could still feel Cas, soaking wet around the cock, and she rode out the waves by embracing them, embracing this. Letting herself enjoy it, letting herself admit this was something she wanted, even if later the guilt might tear her apart.

Niko collapsed onto Cas, whose arms came up and wrapped around Niko firmly. Niko lay there, gasping for breath, and let Cas hold her.

“Fuck,” Niko breathed. “I think that’s the best sex I’ve ever had.”

“You’re welcome,” Cas replied in a flirtatious tone. Niko thought she sounded a bit smug, but decided she deserved to.

“Fascinating,” a voice said behind them. Niko pulled away from Cas, scrambling to cover both of them as Not Jana studied them from the center of the room.

“We did what you wanted,” Niko said evenly, resisting the urge to curse the apparition out. “Will you let us go back to our people now?”

Not Jana considered, tilting her head to the side in a strange indication of thought.

“Yes,” Not Jana declared finally. Niko felt a wave of relief go through her.

“Thank you,” Niko said quietly.

Not Jana studied her for a moment more, then faded out of existence.

Another bolt of pain lanced through Niko’s skull. She screwed her eyes closed and prayed it would end quickly.

To her surprise, it did. When she opened her eyes, she was standing on the burnt-orange desert planet, near the cliff she and Cas had been approaching before their encounter with the Achaia consciousness.

Niko looked down. She was fully clothed in her exploration fatigues and still held her weapon. She glanced at Cas who was similarly attired.

“Niko, do you read me?” The walkie talkie crackled to life with Zayn’s voice.

“We’re here,” Niko said. “How long have we been out of communication?”

“What? You haven’t been. I just wanted to let you know we found some plants that are both edible and actually not disgusting. Unless you’ve got a good lead, you can probably come back to the shuttle.”

Niko breathed out a breath she didn’t know she’d been holding.

“Roger that. See you in ten minutes.” Niko secured her walkie and turned to Cas, who was staring at her, unusually pale even in the glow of the planet’s twin suns.

“Niko, I—“

“Yeah. I was wondering if that was just in my head or if we both experienced it.”

“What do you think it means?” Cas asked quietly.

“I think it means we should have Zayn scan both our brains when we get back to the ship,” Niko said firmly. She saw Cas’s face fall. “And then I think we should get very drunk and see if we can talk about it.”

“Okay,” Cas replied. “That was... it was weird and intense, but I’m glad it was you there with me.”

Cas’s lips quirked up in the slightest smile and Niko felt an overwhelming urge to kiss her, but resisted it.

“I’m glad it was you too,” Niko said. She took Cas’s hand and squeezed it. “And for the record? The day we met, I saw you, and I did want to save you. Maybe that’s even what I thought I was doing when I gave you my information. But everything you have now? That was all you. I have always been so impressed by how passionately you go after what you want.”

Cas nodded, the slightest movement, and her eyes squinted as if the sun was suddenly too much. She looked back to Niko and her eyes were shining.

“Thanks, Niko,” Cas said quietly. She took a step closer to Niko.

“What are you doing?” Niko asked as Cas’s fingers stroked down her cheek.

“Going after what I want.”


End file.
